Railway crossing gate



April 9, 1935. 1.. H. PRANGER RAILWAY CROSSING GATE Original Filed Nov. 20, 1930 Patented Apr. 9, 1935 I UNITE'DIVV S E- y RAILWAY cnossnve GATE Louis H. Prangcr. Racine, Wis.

Original application November 20, 1930, Serial No. 496,878. Patent No.{1',945,295, datedJanu ary 30, 1934. Divided and this application July 27, 1932, Serial No, 625,007 i 6 Claims. (01. 399f l) I Asillustrated in the'drawing, the mproved safety gate comprises, a pair of parallel bars ID 1O railway crossing gate comprising relatively movable parts which are adapted to yieldin the event that the gate islowered vuponfan automobile or other vehicle positioned o'n the railway M track; thereby preventing damage to the gate or '15 the vehicle. A furtherobject of the invention is to providea railway crossing gate adapted to occupy a horizontal position when closed and to be tilted upwardly to an inclined position when open, the gate being formed of pivotally connected parts, one of which is free to move upwardly in the event that the gate encounters an obstruction when it is lowered toward its closed position. Still another object of the invention is to provide a tilting railway crossing gate made up of pivotally connected sections one of a which is adapted to swing upwardly in the event thatthe gate encounters an obstruction while it is being lowered, in combination with means for ,autoniatically preventing relative movement of ".50 v the sections of the gate when it, is tilted upwardly during thenormal operation} of opening the gate. Other objects relate to variousfeaturesof'construction and arrangement which ,willappear more fully hereinafter. Y

onthe liner-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the, arrows, with parts broken away;

Fig. 3 shows a front elevation of the connection 'between'the'shaft and the gate which permits the gate to be. turned in one direction only;

1 Fig.4 is a vertical section taken longitudinally of the gate, showing means for automatically locking. the hinged sections when the gate is elevated;

Fig. is a detail section taken orithe line 5 of Fig.2;and l Fig. 6xis adetail sectionitalgen' on thelline it 5-3 f Fig. 2

' the single gate bar I l. V

pivotallyfconnecte'd by a pin. l2 and the bar ll 5 theunder sides of the pivot bars l0, while the opposite side of the pivot I2.

accidentally loweredupon anautomobile, for exdamage.

7 g the bars. in alignment. The nature of the invention will be understood a pulley is securedbetween the bars I!) with its which are spaced apart to receive between them The bars I0 and Hare is normally mainta'inedpin alignment with the bars 'lllby means of two metal clips [3 which are secured tothe upper and lower sides of the bar .I! in diagonai'relationship to the pin [2 so that one clip adjacent one endof the bar I l embraces.

other clip I3, on the upper side of the barll, engages the upper sides of the'bars ID at the o This arrangement permits the bar I I to'swing upwardly with respect to the'vbars is but prevents. thedownward g movement of the bar H; I The bars, 10 and II are adapted to be lowered across the streetor roadway at. the railway crossing and if the gate is,

ample the bar 'Il swings upwardly to prevent The extent ofthe'upward swinging of the bar ll withrespect to thefbars I0 is limited by a chain M which is attached to the bars l0 and by a detent l5 whichtis pivoted between the bars 7 y it and which has a weighted head [5 so that when the gate is elevated, the detent is moved by the action of gravity on thehead Hie to cause it ,to engage'thenotch H formed in-the end of the bar H, as shown in Fig. 4,.thereby holding The gate comprising the relatively movable and pivotally connected parts described above is adapted to swing upwardly about a pivotal axis when it is being opened and to swing downwardly about the same axis when it is closed. This swinging movement of the gate may be effected 40 by various forms of gate operating mechanism but in the accompanying drawing there has been illustrated the form of operating mechanism' which is described and claimed in the co-pending application above referred to. 'The gate is adapted to be raised and lowered by a vertical operating shaft l5 and the gate is mounted on the upper end of this shaft through intermediateparts which include a bracket I! having arms of h ate'together 1 'i i= which 'extendnpwardly on opposite sides 50 L01": thegatebars'lfl to receive the pin. l8 upon "which the bars are pivotally mounted. A counlterweight i 9 is secured on the end of the bars l0 ,opposite the bar ii and a'grooved sector 20 of,

- of the pulley sector 20 and then the cable extendsv axis concentric'withthe axis of the pin l8. A cable 2! has gone extremity attached to one end over this pulley and thence downwardly with its lower end attached to a coil spring 22. This coil spring has its lower end attached to another cable 23 which extends around a pulley .24 and is attached toa collar 25 mounted on the shaft the upper reduced extremity ofthe shaft lt'by means of a transverse pin27." The capme'mber 28 is provided with an annular groove 26 which is engaged by setscrews 28 passing through the .wall of the bracket that the bracket is retaihed in position on the cap member although having a slight upward movement thereon due 'to the width or the groove 'ze 'Thi's relative upward movement of the'bracket and. cap member is for the purpose of permitting rotation of the cap member in one direction which may be desirable to permit the escape of a'vehicle which is'icaiight between two gates on a railway track, in which casepressw-e exerted against the gate on the inner side thereof will force it awa'y 'frorn the trackand permitthe vehicle to move off of the track. For this purpose, the lower annular flange of the cap member 26 is provided with a number of upwardly extending lugs 25* each of which ha'sfan inclined race 26 at one end and a vertical face 25' at the other end., The lower 7 end fof the socket'portion'of the bracket IT is provided with similar depending lugs [1 having 'incliiredfendiaces' li and other vertical end faces H when the gate is in it's normal p'o'sitioh, the lugs 26 'and W have the interlocking relation shown in Fig. 3, wherein the coaction of thevertical faces ii and 26 preven'ts rotation of. the rac et 11 about the capfmember 26 in a direction which would permit the gate to be swung inwardly toward therailway track, but,

in the. event that pressure is exerted on the gate from thein'i'ier side thereof, the lugs 11 of the bracketride upwardly on the inclined faces 26 of the lugscar'rie'd by the cap member to permit a rotation of the bracketfsuflicient to allow the gateto swing away from the railway track. During this-movement, the set screws 28 move upwardly in the groove .26 and the spring '22 is elongated enough to compensatefor the relative 'ai'igulai movement of the gate on the shaft.

v Th'eupward movement of thebracket lifor the purpose "of raising the gate, 'as wellas the flowering movement thereof, are effected by the longitudinal movement "of the shaft it in a vertical'direction. This shaft is mounted to slide in bearings 35 and 36 which are mounted at the upper and lower -ends, respectively, of astubular casing 31 which surrounds the intermediate portion ii the. shaft and "whichf'is secured to the bearing members by cap screws 3'8. :The lower bearing member "33 I is formed integrally'withthe top cover 39 of a "gear casing 39 which is secured "by "cap screws Ell to'blocks il embedded in the pavement 42, as shown in'Fig. 2. One end wall- 39 of this casing also'forms' a part of the casing of an electric'motor lewhich is thussupported by the casing '33, The shaft 46, of the motor has 'a bevel'rpinion li'lffixedthereon and this pinion f meshes with a bevel gear 68 having a hub 48 which is internally threaded to mesh with the threaded portion 16* of the operating shaft. A roller bearing 49 is interposed between the gear 48 and the lower part of the casing 39 to receive the downward thrust upon the gear and to carry the weight of the superimposed parts during the operation of the device.- The upper end of the gear hub engages the lower end of the bearing 36 so that vertical displacement of the gear within the casing is thereby prevented. The casing 39 has a tubular downward extension 50 which extends into an aperture 5i formed in the pavement 42 and the lower end of this tubular extension of thecasing is closed by a cap 52, thus forming a well or recess into which the lower part of the threaded portion 16 of the operating shaftextends. The shaft i6 is prevented from rotating by-a pair of lugs 25 which are formed on the collar 25 and which extend on opposite sides of a verticalrrib 43 which is secured to the inner side of the housing 31. .The housing 3'! has a lateral extension 3'1 in jwhichfth'e pulley 24 is mounted and through "which the cable 2| and spring 22 extend. When the gear 48 is driven by the motor 45, the shaft is either raised or lowered by reason of'its'threaded connection with the gear, depending upon the direction of rotation of the gear, so that the bracket 1 and the gate are thereby raised or lowered, depending upon the direction of movement. The lower end of the shaft 16 is centered in the tubular extension 50 of the housing by means of a collar 53 which is secured in the end of the shaft and which is provided with notches 53 to permit the passage of oil by the collar during'the vertical movement of the shaft.

In order that the single shaft l6 and the motor -45 may be utilized for both raising and lowering the gate, the electric motor 45 is provided with suitable windings and controlling devices so that its direction of rotation may be reversed at the will of the attendant. These connections are illustrated somewhat diagrammatically in Fig. 2,

vwhere two line conductors 5'4 and 55 are shown as supplying the current from 'asuitable source erating handle 57 of the device 5-! is thrown to the proper positionsythe motor is operated to rotate in the desired-direction. When the shaft vated. 'When'the shaft I'B is lowered, the operation is reversed and the ,gate 'swings downwardly bygravity about the pivot l8 as'the pivot is lowered.

Although one form of the invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, it

will be understood that it may be constructed in. various other embodiments within the scope .of the appended claims.

I claim: 7 1. In a safety gate,.a gatearmadapted to pivot about 'a horizontal axis between a horizontal 1 closed position and an upwardly tilted open position, said gate arm compmsing a body portion and an extension which are pivotally connected for relative movement in a vertical plane, supporting means for preventing relative pivotal movement of said extension and said body portion in one direction from a position in which said extension and said body portion are in alignment while permitting relative movement in the other direction, and. latching means operable when said gate arm is tilted upwardly for preventing relative pivotal movement of said extension with respect to said body portion.

2. In a safety gate, a gate arm mounted for pivotal movement between a normal horizontal position and an upwardly tilted open position, said gate arm comprising a body portion and an extension which are normally in alignment, means forpivotally connecting said body portion and said extension to permit relative movement of said extension upwardly about said body portion, and latchingmeans operable when said gate arm is tilted upwardly for engaging said extension and preventing relative pivotal movement of said bodyportion and said extension, said latching means being inoperative when said gate is in its normal horizontal position. 7 V

3. In a safety gate, a gate arm adapted when actuated to move to horizontal and tilted positions, said gate arm comprising pivotally conment of said bars in the other direction when said gate has been tilted upwardly.

4. In a safety gate, a gate arm mounted for pivotal movement in a vertical plane and com- 5. In a safety gate, a gate arm mounted for pivotal movement in a vertical plane and comprising relatively movable parts overlapping each other in vertical planes, means for pivotally connecting said relatively movable parts for movement about a horizontal axis, and means engaging said relatively movable parts on opposite sides of said pivotal connection for permitting relative pivotal movement oi said parts in one direction only, and means for'preventing said relative pivotal movement when said gate is in an'upper inclined position.

6. In a safety gate, a gate bar mounted for movement from a horizontal position to an upper inclined position, said gate bar comprising compler'nentary overlapping sections, means for pivotally connecting said sections to permit relative movement thereof about a horizontal axis, means Vfor'preventing relative movement in one direction from a position in which said sections are in alignment with each other,and 'a-weighted latch member pivoted on one of said sections and adapted to interlock automatically with the other of said sectionswhen saidgate is tilted upwardly for preventing relative pivotal movement of said gate is in said upper inclined 35 sections when said position. Y I

LOUIS I-I'. PRANGER. 

